How it helps: The new amnesty provision allows the Raptors to be players in this year's free-agent market if they want to be. If Nene or Tyson Chandler wants to come to Toronto, they could amnesty a player like Jose Calderon and get far enough under the cap to sign him.

If new rookie Jonas Valanciunas is as good as some NBA scouts think he can be, the Raptors will also have an easier time re-signing him in four years thanks to the new designated player rules.

How it hurts: The new CBA shouldn't have a significant negative impact on the Raptors right now. Of course, that says more about the state of limbo the team is currently in than it does about the new CBA.

Immediate impact (this season): Unless they use the amnesty clause, the Raptors won't really be players in this winter's abbreviated free-agency period. If they do, they can take a shot at a few talented free agents.

Long-term impact (future seasons): Assuming they hold on to their amnesty waiver until next summer (when they could also let Leandro Barbosa walk), the Raptors could be serious free-agent players in 2012 without having to gut their team.

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 02:00 PM

ceez

Interesting, didn't realize we could potentially have that much cash next season. Tank away, boys. Tank away.

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 03:46 PM

Bendit

The last point is most appealing to me. Patience and trading this year to load up some more on the next draft.

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 03:48 PM

Puffer

Quote:

ceez wrote:

Interesting, didn't realize we could potentially have that much cash next season. Tank away, boys. Tank away.

As mentioned in todays podcast, the Raptors will have to pay JV and whatever other draft pick they get next year. If you expect a top five pick then altogether the rookies will eat up about 7 million, which is about what Leandro would have gotten, as I recall. The current singed players mostly have salaries going up, so there goes another couple of million. They are going to have to sign 5 players to fill out the roster, so there goes $3 million or so. They will have to keep a couple of those guys next year. So all things being equal, they really will only have somewhere around $10 - 12 million, or less. Maybe get one key free agent.

Puffer

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 03:54 PM

ceez

I thought you get to use the amnesty dealie once a year. Not the case?

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 04:02 PM

mcHAPPY

Quote:

Puffer wrote:

As mentioned in todays podcast, the Raptors will have to pay JV and whatever other draft pick they get next year. If you expect a top five pick then altogether the rookies will eat up about 7 million, which is about what Leandro would have gotten, as I recall. The current singed players mostly have salaries going up, so there goes another couple of million. They are going to have to sign 5 players to fill out the roster, so there goes $3 million or so. They will have to keep a couple of those guys next year. So all things being equal, they really will only have somewhere around $10 - 12 million, or less. Maybe get one key free agent.

Puffer

True.... assuming there are no trades or use of amnesty. The amnesty could be used next summer.

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 05:58 PM

yertu damkule

Quote:

ceez wrote:

I thought you get to use the amnesty dealie once a year. Not the case?

no, it's a one-use thing, but it doesn't have to be used right away. as long as the player being amnestied was with the team doing the amnestying by Jul 1, 2011, they can use the clause at any time (i don't think there's a finite statue of limitations, but may be wrong on that). you can't use it on guys who signed after Jul 1, 2011, & it can't be used on guys acquired in a trade after that date.

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 07:07 PM

Hassan

once until the new bargaining agreement is signed ?

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 07:41 PM

JYFelony

I'm pretty sure you have several years before you must use it.

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 07:58 PM

Tim W.

I believe I read it doesn't have a time limit, but it only applies to contracts signed during the last CBA.

Wed Nov 30th, 2011, 08:34 PM

octothorp

Quote:

yertu damkule wrote:

no, it's a one-use thing, but it doesn't have to be used right away. as long as the player being amnestied was with the team doing the amnestying by Jul 1, 2011, they can use the clause at any time (i don't think there's a finite statue of limitations, but may be wrong on that). you can't use it on guys who signed after Jul 1, 2011, & it can't be used on guys acquired in a trade after that date.

I haven't read a definitive account of how the amnesty system is going to work, but the guy I'd trust the most (Larry Coon here: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/...pares-last-one) says that it can only be used prior to the start of a season. I'm not sure exactly what this entails... can it be used at any point during the offseason then? Or is there a limited window, like two weeks before the season starts? Or does everybody who wants to amnesty a player submit it to the league by a certain date, and then the league releases that list to teams, so that the bidding on all players goes on simultaneously?

There's a lot of questions that arise from this... how long will an auction take to resolve? If a team is interested in two amnestied players but only has cap room for one of them, can they submit a bid on both and then decline one if they happen to win both? Or does the sum of all of a team's ongoing bids need to fit under the cap?

edit: the most important factor about when exactly you can use the amnesty clause... if it's only immediately before the start of a season, then a team needs to amnesty a player now if they want that cap space available for next summer, or at the trade deadline. This seems to make it more important for the Raptors to amnesty a player now if they want to be FA players next summer.

Thu Dec 1st, 2011, 10:01 AM

ceez

Oh so it's a one shot deal?

In that case use it on Calderon next year and trade barbosa/let him walk.